Chaos Ptheory
by Eggplant Crusader
Summary: Chloe Price, "the punk queen of rock", was determined to never return to her hometown of Arcadia Bay. Max Caulfield just wanted to enjoy the quiet life for a while she figured out her life. Luckily for them, the universe had other plans. Slow(ish) burn Pricefield AU, no powers.
1. On The Road

**A.N: Some stuff about this story if you want to know what you're getting into:**

 *** Pricefield AU. No supernatural stuff, some changes to the backstory, plus the big change that is the premise of the AU.**

 *** Fluff. Lots of fluff. Plot and angst might show up here and there, but it's all for the fluff.**

 *** Slow-ish burn, but stuff happens eventually. However, this will always stay rated T.**

 *** I am kinda random with uptades, but on the upside, I will never not deliver on promises because I will never promise you anything, afraid of commitment and all that. Speaking of, if by any chance you're a follower from before the 6-month hiatus: I'll get to the other stuff eventually! Real life happened, and then I played LiS and now I need to get it out of my system.**

* * *

Chapter 1: On the Road

Eyes lingered on the huge bus as it made its way through the small town streets, desperately looking for a gas station. A complex black and blue design of butterflies and lightning covered the whole vehicle, even the tinted side windows. It was the strangest thing to make it to the town in years, and while many of the eyes followed it with excited curiosity, many others did so with the suspicion of someone who enjoys peace and quiet and knows trouble when it comes a-knocking, thank you very much.

"So sorry about this miss, don't know how I missed the last one…" the driver repeated, for the billionth time.

"Don't worry about it, Neal." He heard the woman reply from the back. "Let's just make this quick, okay? I don't like small towns. Remind me way too much of home."

"Really? I always figured you'd come out from New York or LA or one of them big cities."

"Hah. I wish. Nah, I had to spend my early years trapped in one of these little pockets of hell. Though I guess I should be thankful, I wouldn't have gotten anywhere if I hadn't been motivated to leave that place as far behind as possible."

As the bus finally stopped at a gas station and the driver headed to the door, he was surprised to see his twenty years younger boss waiting by the door. With wild blue hair and wilder black and white clothes, the twenty-three year old woman did not look like much, but had somehow managed to rise to stardom as the founder and lead singer of _Chaos Ptheory_ , one of the most popular rock bands in the country for the past two years.

"Imma buy some beer." She said with an impish smile.

"We have a fully stocked refrigerator, Ms. Price."

"Ugh, _I know_. But it's about the roadtrip _experience_."

"If you say so, miss." Neal didn't complain. He'd been in the business of driving celebrities around for almost two decades, and he'd quickly learned that every single one was insane in one way or the other. No, not insane, _eccentric_ , that's what it was called when you had enough money. Chloe Price, however, had turned out to be one of the best bosses he'd ever had, further confirming his long held theory that the closer the employer was to an innocent looking boy band, the worse the job was going to be.

And while no job was perfect and Chloe's...eccentricities had managed to test his patience once or twice, what with the mess she'd make out of the bus and the insane schedule demands, it had also turned out to be his most profitable job yet for one simple reason: whenever possible, Chloe Price refused to travel by airplane.

He suspected she was afraid of flying, but she'd never admit to such a thing. But whatever the reason, the point was that he'd have more work - and more money- than he'd had in a long time, and the best part was that most of those extra trips only included Chloe (the rest of the band would almost always travel by plane and wait for her in whatever city they were playing next), who was as quiet a passenger as the driver could hope for, provided she'd remembered to pack enough weed. And Chloe always remembered the weed.

He watched as the rockstar walked away, the image on the back of her signature leather jacket faced towards him. It looked like someone had spilled watercolors on the jacket and had somehow managed to make it look like a set of blue butterfly wings that faded into the black. The man smiled. Only Chloe Price could make butterflies feel like punk rock.

* * *

As she headed to the counter with the six pack in hand, Chloe Price had an odd feeling of déjà vu. She looked around the place. The whole situation felt familiar, as if she'd already bought beer on that exact same store before. No, not bought. _Stolen_. That's what her gut was telling her. But that wasn't possible, was it? She hadn't needed to steal anything in years, ever since she'd left-

"Fuck." She said, as she placed the beer on the counter.

"Excuse me?" The cashier said, looking up from a magazine.

"Uh, nothing. Sorry." She said as she paid and picked the beer up again. "Say, what town is-"

 _Click._ The all too familiar sound of a camera doing its thing made her freeze mid sentence. She turned around slowly and her glaring eyes met the dark lens.

"Oh, for fucks sake!" She yelled. "They warned me about paparazzi, but are you people really this desperate? Did you really just follow me all the way out here for some stupid picture? Oh, I can see the clickbait headlines already: _You won't believe what beer this singer drinks!_

"Uh...what?" The girl behind the camera said as she put it down. "Why would I- I mean, I was just- Wait, holy shit, you're Chloe Price!"

"Uh, duh! Brilliant deduction Sher-ohgodyou'reMaxCaufieldandI'manasshole."

"Yeah! I'm Max, I mean. Not...not the other thing."

"Oh god. Classic Chloe." Chloe said as she covered her eyes with her hand. "I mean, we haven't seen each other in what, almost ten years? And here I go and ruin the moment with my narcissism."

"N-no! It's my fault!" Max looked at he feet with a light blush on her cheeks as she spoke "I'm always taking pictures without asking for permission- not the first time someone got pissed about it. I'm sorry. Plus, I should have recognized you immediately, what with your face being everywhere these days."

"Uh," the cashier interrupted from behind the counter "if you're both done apologizing, would you like your change miss, or…?"

"Keep it." Chloe answered, not even turning to look at him. The man look back at the money in his hand. She had paid him with a hundred dollar bill. He didn't need her to tell him twice.

"Thank you, come again." He said under his breath, but the words faded into the awkward silence shared by the two women.

"You. Me. Beer. Now." Chloe managed to finally say as she walked towards the door and grabbed Max's arm, pulling her along.

"That sounds great Chloe but I don't really drink beer?" Max said quickly as she tried not to stumble while being dragged out of the shop "Also I didn't pay for my stuff?"

"Trust me, I got you covered. And I'm sure there must be _something_ other than beer in the fridge."

"What fridge?"

"The one in the bus."

"What bus?"

Chloe stopped in her tracks, making Max stumble again, and looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Seriously?"

Max looked away from Chloe for the first time since taking her picture.

"Oh. That bus." The black-blue colossus was like a magnet for attention. Max couldn't believe she hadn't noticed it before, but then again, if anything had ever been good at keeping her mind busy, it had been Chloe Price.

"Yeah."

"It's...pretty."

"Pretty?" Chloe seemed offended "It's hella cool is what it is! Hmph. Pretty!"

"Sorry?"

"It's not me you have to apologize to! It's Maaaaa…Mah Bus!"

 _Bullet dodged,_ thought Chloe.

 _For now_ , said the universe.

"Anyway, come on in."

"Ready to go, miss?" Neal's voice came from the cabin.

"Oh, right. Um, Neal, this is my old friend Max Caulfield. She was like, the one good thing in the town I was telling you about. Until she totally bailed on me, that is. Kidding, Max, I know you didn't want to go. Didn't stop me from being hella pissed at you for a month or twenty. Max, this is Neal Moriarty, bus driver extraordinaire. Neal, Max and I just bumped into each other, you know, serendipity or whatever, so we're going to use this chance to get reacquainted. That means, uh, we can't leave yet? Please?"

"Whatever you say, miss. We've got more than enough time."

"Great. Awesome. Let's go find you not-beer, Max."

* * *

As it turned out, and much to Chloe's surprise, the fridge had a lot of not-beer. There were all kinds of drinks, snacks, and even ice cream. Max ended up grabbing orange juice.

"Woah, slow down there, you sure you can handle that?" Chloe teased her.

"Oh, bite me." Max replied, as she looked around. "Nice place."

"It's a mess, I know."

It really, _really_ was, but Max wasn't going to say so. And she didn't care anyway, the inside of the bus looked like a trashed apartment, yes, but it was a trashed apartment that screamed Chloe, and that was more than good enough for her. It was her first time there, but it somehow managed to make her feel nostalgic.

"So," Chloe began. "weird question, but I take it since you're here that means this is, as I had cleverly deduced right before I went all stupid on you, Arcadia Bay? Also, why the hell are you in Arcadia Bay? Don't you live in Seattle? And shouldn't you be like, in college or something?"

"Parents moved back here a few years ago. Even bought back the old place. I know, what the hell, right? And, um, I'm kinda done with college? I'm staying with them for some time until I figure out what the hell I'm supposed to do now. You...didn't know you were home?"

"Emergency fuel stop." Chloe explained succinctly as she let herself fall on a couch. It didn't make much sense to Max. How could Chloe just drive past her hometown and not know about it? She'd heard Chloe and the town hadn't exactly parted in good terms, but had she really intended to just drive past it as if had never even existed?

"Oh." Max answered, sitting on the opposite end of the couch. "Does that mean you're not staying, then?"

"Uh, no thank you. I would have left already if it weren't for you." Chloe said as she pointed at he r with the end of her beer. "I'm on the way to Portland. We're playing there next weekend."

 _I know._ Max thought.

"So, uh, where's the rest of the band then?" She said instead.

"Trashing some hotel there, probably. Kidding, we're actually relatively civil. But yeah, they're already there. They, uh, travel by plane."

"But you don't?"

"No! I'm a musician Max. _This_ is how we're meant to travel! Road trips across the country, meeting people, gathering inspiration, that sorta thing!"

"You can meet people on an airplane, Chloe. And airports. And-"

"Ugh, no, you don't get it! No one does! It's just the way it is, okay? Or the way it's supposed to be. If I don't do it the _right_ way, then...then that's it, right? I'm not an artist, I'm just paparazzi fodder."

"That's...harsh. On the rest of your band, I mean."

"Which is why I don't tell them. I'm not _that_ much of an asshole. Besides, I know it's not true. Not really. But it makes me feel better. These days, what with all the cameras -no offense- and all the magazines and stuff, it's hard to remember why I'm doing this. Even when I'm on the stage. _Especially_ when I'm on the stage. It's not about being an artist, it's about feeling like one."

A few seconds passed in silence as Max looked at the tightly gripped juice in her hands, unsure of how to answer to the sudden burst of honesty. Finally, Chloe sighed.

"I know, I know, listen to me, complaining about fame and fortune."

"No! No, I wasn't thinking that. At all. I get it now. What you said before. It makes sense."

Chloe shrugged.

"If you say so. So, what about you? What's going on in the life of Maxine Caulfield?"

This time it was Max's time to shrug.

"Not much. Nothing really, next to what your life must be. I mean-" she looked around. " _Wow_. I still can't believe you made it." She paused to process what she had just said. "Ohgodthatcameoutwrong." she mumbled as she closed her eyes and waited for the backlash. But all she heard was laughter.

"Oh god" Chloe said, wiping a tear from her eye. "That's the most honest thing anyone's ever said to me in years. And yeah, I still can't believe it either. I mean, what the fuck are these people thinking, paying money to listen to _me_ , of all people?"

"I didn't mean it like that. Of course you succeeded. It's not like the world had any other choice."

"How so?"

"Well, you're Chloe Price. You don't exactly take no for an answer."

"You mocking me, Caulfield?"

"Wouldn't dream of it, Price."

"Pfff, right." Chloe said as she dropped the empty beer and opened another one. "God, I missed this. Missed _us_."

"Yeah, me too." Max said. The memory of the last time they'd been together was still strong in her mind. There had been tears and hugs, but also smiles and promises. There had been a few attempts at reconnecting after that, but they had never worked out. Theirs had always been a very...active friendship, sharing stories had never done anything but increase the pain of knowing they could no longer make stories together.

"Did you ever think about how things would have been if-" Chloe paused, and looked away before finishing the sentence. "If you hadn't left?"

"All the time. I also used to fantasize about coming back and life just going back to normal, as if nothing had ever happened. But then, well, then the news started coming in about how you were actually kicking the world in the butt. And it didn't feel right, you know? Cause for that to happen you'd have to come back too. I felt like I was wishing your failure or something. So I guess I stopped. Mostly."

"I know what you mean. Sometimes during a show I'd see a girl that looked kind of like you and I'd imagine you'd come all the way to see me sing. But then you got that fancy scholarship of yours and I knew you were going to be too busy working for those straight As to run away to...some city...just so you could...what? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I did. Once."

"Wait, what?"

"A friend scored tickets and I figured, why not? So we went. It was kind of a last minute thing."

"And?"

"And, uh...you were awesome?"

"You hated it, didn't you?"

"I'm...not good with crowds. And it was…" Max trailed off.

"Crowded."

"To say the least."

"So, why the hell didn't you come see me afterwards?"

"I tried! Security wouldn't let me through. They didn't believe me. It probably didn't help that there were three other girls there claiming to be your friend. And you know," This time Max was the one to look away "I don't exactly look like the kind of person you'd hang out with on purpose. Anyway tried texting you, but-"

"But by then I probably already had my super secret new phone number to keep the weirdos at bay."

"Yeah."

"Fuck. I'm sorry."

"Not your fault."

"No, it is, I should have given you my number, fuck whatever my manager says. In fact, I'm giving it to you right now. Give me your phone. And by the way? You totally look like the kind of person I'd hang out with on purpose. In fact, you look _exactly_ like one of my best friends ever!"

"Really? Who?"

"You, Max. I'm talking about you."

"Right. I knew that."

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Aaaanyway. Before we go full-ten year olds, I just got an idea. A brilliant idea. Genius, really, but that's, of course, a given, since it's one of _my_ ideas."

"I'm listening...unless you plan to keep talking about yourself, in that case I'm just gonna zone out now."

"Oh, shut it. And listen to this: I. Am going to make it up to you."

"Make what up to me?"

"The whole concert thing. I'm taking you with me to Portland. You'll get to go backstage, meet the band, you can even stay with us at the hotel!"

"You're kidding."

"No! Come on, it's gonna be awesome!"

"Chloe, I can't just- I mean, it doesn't- I don't-"

"...have any good excuses?" Chloe tried, with her trademark impish smile. Max sighed.

"No. I mean, it would be awesome, yes, but...are you sure you want me there? Wouldn't I be, I don't know...cramping your style? Your friends are gonna think I'm totally lame."

"No, they won't. And if any of them do, then they stop being my friends. I'm even kicking them off the band. I can do that, you know? It's like, in my contract and everything. I think."

"The scary part is I believe you. But that's what I mean. I don't want to be a problem for you, to drag you down. I'd just be extra weight for you to carry."

"Ugh, stop saying stupid things, Max! You're ruining the mooood."

"I'm serious, Chloe! I mean, you've got your whole Punk Queen of Rock thing going on and I'd just be...me. I'd be out of place. I'm just so...vanilla."

The moment the word came out of Max's mouth, Chloe's expression went completely serious. In an instant, she was right next to Max, looking into her eyes. Max could almost feel Chloe's nose touching hers. She tried to back away, but she was trapped at the end of the couch.

"Max."

"Yes Chloe?"

"I'm gonna tell you a secret. I've never, ever told this to anyone. This could absolutely ruin my public image and thus, my career, you hear?"

Max nodded, slowly. Chloe moved towards her ear, brushing Max's cheek with a lock of blue hair.

"Vanilla..." Chloe whispered, her hot breath sending shivers down Max's spine. "Is my favorite ice cream flavor."

A second passed in silence before Max burst out laughing, pushing Chloe away.

"You're full of shit, Price."

Chloe gasped.

"You dare? I've just shared something intimate."

"Vanilla is _not_ your favorite flavor."

"Oh, like you know? Before you make a fool out of yourself, let me tell you that it's _not_ whiskey. I just edited that into my wikipedia page as misdirection."

Max giggled as she shook her head.

"It's strawberry."

"I...what? How?"

"Because, you might be too cool to remember the lame movie nights, but I'll never forget how you'd always eat all the strawberry from the chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry ice cream. There was never any left for me!"

Chloe gasped once again, outraged.

"Of course I remember our _awesome_ movie nights! In fact, I clearly remember always being gracious and fair when it came to ice cream distribution!" She pointed at Max, and this time it was her fingertip that almost touched Max's nose. "You, and not me, are the liar here, Ms. Caulfield."

Max raised an eyebrow.

"Is that so?"

Chloe nodded gravely.

"It is, indeed, so!"

"Then you won't mind if I do...this!" Max said as she swiftly jumped out of the couch and headed for the fridge.

"What are you-"

Chloe's jaw dropped as she saw Max taking out the ice cream from the tiny freezer on the bus fridge.

"Will you confess, Ms. Price? Or shall your true colors be exposed by force?"

"I...I confess…" Suddenly, Chloe lunged forward "nothing! Now gimme!"

"Never!"

As they wrestled for the ice cream, Max finally managed to get the lid off.

"Noooo!" Chloe screamed, as she fell to the ground dramatically.

"Look Price! Pink! As pink as the ponies you used to draw! Vanilla? Whiskey? Ha! You might have fooled the world, but not me! I know! I will always know that deep down, you will always be one of _them_."

Chloe, who had been looking at the floor with a mask of exaggerated shame, looked up in confusion.

"Okay, sorry, you lost me there. Them who?"

For a second, they looked at each other in silence, Chloe awkwardly kneeling before Max.

"I…" Max started giggling. "I have no idea. I kinda got carried away."

"No shit." Chloe said with a wide smile. "So...since I'm already kneeling, I might as well just beg you to come with me to Portland, right?"

"Chloe-"

"I swear, you won't have to do anything you don't want to-"

"Chloe-"

"and, and I'll cover all expenses, and the moment you feel like you don't wanna be there, I'll arrange for the best way to get you home. Not- not that you'll feel like leaving, 'cause it's gonna be awesome, and-"

"Chloe!"

"And I'll let you eat all the strawberry ice cream you want! All of it! I swear!"

"Chloe." Max said, dead serious, as she placed a hand on Chloe's shoulder.

"Yes Max?"

"I'd love to go to Portland with you?"

"Really?"

"Really."

"Awesome. And, uh, just out of curiosity, were you willing to come _before_ I offered the ice cream?"

"Yup."

"But you're still going-"

"I'm still going to take your word for it, yes."

"Dammit."

"But who knows, if you behave, I _might_ be inclined to share some of _my_ ice cream."

"You are evil, Caulfield."

"That's why you love me, Price."

"Ha!" Chloe said as she slumped backwards and let herself fall to the ground. Or rather, the pile of clothes that had made the bus floor its home. "Too true. Too true. So, shall we get going, then? I guess that's the _other_ good thing coming out of accidentally ending up in Arcadia Bay: I get to leave it _again_!"

"I, uh, need to pack."

"I'll just buy you stuff when we get to Portland."

"And talk to my parents."

"I'll buy you new parents."

"Chloe."

"Fiiiiine. But for the record, I probably could, you know? I know a guy."

"Whatever you say, C."

"I guess I should go...tell...Neal…" as she said the name, Max's hand flew to her mouth, hiding a huge smile. "Uh, Neal?" Chloe said, loudly."

"Yes, Ms. Price?"

"You didn't, uh, hear any of that, right?"

"Don't worry miss, your secret's safe with me."

"I knew I could count on you, buddy." Chloe said, still from the ground, as Max bent over with laughter. "Imma go explain to him how to get to your place, 'kay?"

"You sure you remember the way?"

"Puh-leeze. I could get there drunk, high, and blindfolded...I just need to figure out where we are first."

"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to doubt the inner compass of the girl _who didn't know she was in her hometown_."

"'s different. I don't _want_ to know where Arcadia Bay is. I'd rather just pretend it's not there. Here. Whatever. Your childhood home is like, an oasis in the middle of an ink splot covering my mind's map."

"Ugh, the angst, it burns."

"Bite me, Caulfield."

* * *

"Are you coming, Chloe?" Max asked, looking back at her friend, who was standing at the edge of the bus door.

"Um." Chloe said, looking at her feet.

"What, are you nervous about seeing my parents or something? 'Cause I'm the one who has to break it to them that I'm about to run off with some blue haired punk."

"It's not that!" Chloe rushed to say, waving her hands in the air. "I kinda can't. Go. I swore I would never set foot on Arcadia Bay again."

"But...you already did. Back at the gas station."

"Well yes, but I didn't know then, did I? Doesn't count. If I do this now, I'm breaking my solemn vow. I don't do that."

"This coming from the girl who swore to me she'd stop smoking three times. On the same week."

"I'm serious, Max. It was a very oathy kinda thing. Almost got it tattooed on my back, too."

"You're shitting me."

"I might have been kinda slightly completely shitfaced. But it still counts."

Max sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Fine. Then look at it this way: you're not stepping on Arcadia Bay, you're stepping on my parent's home."

"Which is-"

"In the middle of an ink splot in your map's mind, remember? Think of it as an embassy. I hereby grant you safe passage into Caulfield territory. 'Cause there's no way I'm packing alone."

"I don't know..." Chloe said, frowning.

"And I swear not to tell anyone."

"Awesome, let's go!"

Max moved aside as Chloe rushed past her gingerly. A shy smile made its way to the small girl's face. For a second, it felt like she was back in the good old days. Then, as the sudden rush of memories mixed with reality, she realized that was not the case. Once upon a time, she had been fifteen years old and Chloe had been her best friend. But the flow of time was unrelenting and change was constant. Neither of them was still the girl the other one had thought of as a sister. It occurred to Max that perhaps that was not a bad thing. Almost strangers, yet still old friends, they had been granted something rare: a second chance. To build something new. To make new stories. And most importantly, to look at each other with fresh eyes and decide by themselves just what kind of story they wanted it to be.

* * *

 **A.N: Here endeth chapter the first. Reviews welcome.**


	2. Rule 16

Chapter 2: Rule 16

The bags were packed, the goodbyes were said. The Caulfield residence was already fading in the distance.

"I still can't believe I'm doing this." Max said.

"Well, believe it babeh! This is gonna be a-fucking-mazeballs. Like the good old days but, uh, not as PG."

"I'm sure you have all kinds of very punk rock things planned. Just try to remember I might not have your endurance, okay? Some of us like the quiet life."

"Have you ever been to an underground fight club?"

"Chloe!"

"Oh, we could ask Neal to stop at a biker bar and get in a proper brawl!"

"Chloe."

"Or maybe you wanna help me cook some Meth?"

"Okay, see, I know you're messing with me because there's no way you cook anything, except maybe waffles."

"You wound me, Caulfield."

"The truth often does."

"Fair enough. So, no fighting, no cooking, what do you want to do for fun then? Cause we're gonna be trapped in here for a few hours, I love Ma...mah bus, but it's not exactly The Fastest Bus Alive."

"Well, what do _you_ usually do for fun in here?"

"I get baked and watch bad movies."

"I can get behind that."

"Really?"

"Well, maybe not the 'getting baked' part, though I don't mind if you do, but yeah, nothing like a good bad movie to pass the time."

"Army of Darkness?"

"Um, _excuse me_ , I thought you said bad movies, not fricking masterpieces."

"Ah. I see. You are one of _those_. And you _are_ allowed to use actual swear words by the way."

"I _will_ fight you, Chloe Price."

* * *

By the time the bus reached its destination, the argument had evolved into a heated debate on the differences between a "good bad movie", a movie "so-bad-it's-good" and a "B masterpiece". After several examples, counterexamples, and long passionate speeches from both sides, they had finally reached the conclusion that they would have to agree to disagree, or risk letting the madness take over their entire time together.

"But I'm right, by the way." Max hurried to say right before stepping off the bus, which had been agreed as the moment the argument was to end.

"Damn it." Chloe muttered, only now realizing that Max's chivalrous 'after you' had had ulterior motives.

"There you go, miss" Neal said as he left Max's bags on the ground. "if that'd be all, I'll be on my way now."

"You're not staying?" Chloe asked "The guys are gonna hate that, with Max here they'll be heavily outnumbered."

"They'll have to deal with it, miss. I've got a lady in Portland."

"Of course you do, you dog. Don't let us delay you then."

"Yeah," Max chipped in "and thanks for everything Neal."

"My pleasure miss." Neal said as he stepped back into the bus. "I hope you enjoyed the ride on H.M.B Maxine."

No answer came. Chloe and Max were frozen in place, as if time had somehow forgotten it was supposed to keep ticking for them as well as the rest of the world. Chloe's eyes were fixed on the freckled constellation surrounded by a light blush right in front of her. All the blood that had been drained from her face had somehow managed to find its way to the one in front of her.

"H.M-" Max began.

"Her Majesty's Bus." Chloe blurted out. "'Cause I'm Da Queen, you see?"

"Yes, I see." Max said slowly. "You...named your bus." she said. _After me_ , she didn't say, very loudly.

"I...we put it to a vote!" Chloe said, scratching her blushing cheek as she looked away. "but if you must know, yes, I suggested the name. I figured if I was going to be stuck in here for hours or even days at a time, I'd have to actively work to make it homely."

"So…"

"So, when I think 'home', I don't think Arcadia Bay, I think our 'pirate fort'. I don't think Blackhell Academy, I think movie nights and sleepovers. See the pattern?"

Max took the time to examine Chloe's face. It wasn't like Chloe could notice, she was too busy not taking her eyes of a random spot in the distance. Besides the obvious embarrassment, Chloe looked hurt, maybe even sad. Max suspected she was anticipating the mockery.

"Fuck." she said. Chloe closed her eyes at the syllable, looking as if she had just been punched in the gut. Realizing her slip of the tongue wasn't helping, Max panicked and decided to improvise.

"Here." she said, handing her wallet to Chloe. The other girl grabbed it before realizing what she was being given. When she did, she simply looked at Max with a frown. Max rolled her eyes. "open it."

"What-"

"Just do it, Chloe."

Chloe did as she was told, and her eyebrows shot up in surprise. From a picture inside the wallet, a younger version of herself looked back at her with a bright smile.

"You carry this-"

"Everywhere. Just in case I need some warm fuzzy feelings. There, balance of power restored."

"You're the best, Max."

"Yeah, yeah." Max replied as she picked up her bags and started walking towards the hotel. "Now, I know you're secretly all mushy and shit, but you gotta be careful, I only have so many embarrassing secrets to protect your street cred."

"Implying there's more?" Chloe asked, hurrying behind her. Without stopping, Max turned around for just long enough to wink at her.

"Wouldn't _you_ like to know? Don't push your luck, Price."

* * *

The moment they walked into the hotel's penthouse, a tall woman about their age with short blonde hair walked towards them. She did not look happy.

"You are three hours behind schedule, Chloe. If you're gonna insist on these roadtrips of yours, at least be punctual. And who is _this_?"

"Vic, this is my friend Max Caulfield. Max, this is Victoria Chase. She's the band's mom."

"That would be _manager_." Victoria said, shaking Max's hand. "And don't take this the wrong way, but you're not welcome here."

"Uh, I don't think there's a _right_ way to take that, Vic." A man said as he walked in from a hallway. He was wearing sunglasses and a robe. He walked all the way to the door and leaned against the wall, right next to Max. "Hey there. Justin. Nice to meet ya. You, uh, a fan of the band?"

"She's too clever for that." Chloe said as she walked in and pushed him away. "And you're too hungover to remember rule 16, so maybe you should keep to your room before you lose a finger or five."

"Rule 16?" Max asked.

"Do Not Flirt With The Guests." A girl's voice came from a couch. Max turned to see a woman sit up. Her long brown hair was really messy, and Max guessed she'd been napping."Did I hear right? Are we in the presence of the infamous _Maxine_?"

"Infamous?" Max asked, not daring to look at Chloe.

" _Maxine_?" Victoria asked, her anger replaced by realization.

"Presence?" Justin asked, because he was feeling left out.

"Okay, everyone, shush!" Said Chloe, not without glaring at the girl. "First, Justin, I mean it, go to your room."

"I thought _I_ was the mom?" Victoria said as Justin hurried out of the room.

"And _I_ thought I said shush!" Chloe snapped. "Second, yes, this is my old friend Max, the one from back home. Third, Max, I've shared a few stories from back in the day, don't worry, nothing too embarrassing. Probably. Finally, Max is going to be staying with us during our time in Portland, and she's very much welcome here, _Victoria_ , so shut it. Now, let's resume the introductions. Max, the girl with the big mouth there is Rachel Amber. She's the band's lead guitar. If guys wore bras, they'd be throwing them at her feet. She still gets quite a few, actually."

"You might also know me as the band member that posed naked for that magazine once." Rachel said, winking at Max.

"Did everyone just forget about Rule -oh god." Chloe interrupted herself as she saw Max's face, which was completely red. "You _did_ see the naked pictures, didn't you?"

"I-it's not like that! I keep tabs on you from time to time, I just wanted to read the interview."

"So what you're saying," Victoria said with an evil grin. "is that you just read it for the articles. Well, that's original."

"Yes! I mean, no! I mean...it was one time!"

"Okay!" Chloe said, clapping her hands once. "As much as I love how adorable Max is when having an embarrassment-induced meltdown, I do kinda owe her a save from one of those, so I'm officially using my Band Leader Superpowers to get everyone to _shut the fuck up_ , please and thank you."

"Fine." Victoria said. "But she still can't stay here, Chloe. I'm sorry, but this is what you pay me for."

"Uh, no." Chloe replied, angry. "I pay you so I'll have your bitch powers working for me instead of against me. Max is staying here with us. She's also getting backstage passes and all that crap. Think of her as a VIP with lots of Vs. A V.V.V.V.V.I.P, if you will. I'm doing _my_ job, doing rockstary stuff like now _you_ " Chloe poked Victoria as she spoke the word "Do yours, which is to make it work. You should be thanking me, really, if I didn't do this kinda thing, you'd be unemployed."

"Yes." Victoria said, glaring back. "Thank you Chloe, thank you _so much_ for your consideration. Now, if you excuse me, I'll be in my room making phone calls and setting up meetings to try and 'make it work'. Do try not to set the whole building on fire while I'm gone."

Victoria walked away, slamming the door on her way out of the room, prompting a double flip-off from Chloe.

"Woah." Max said. "Must be hard working with her when you hate each other so much."

Rachel laughed.

"Uh, what are you talking about?" Chloe asked, confused. "Vic's like, a sister or something."

"Well, your _sister_ just tried to get me kicked out." Max said, glaring at Chloe.

"Oh god." Chloe said, burying her face in her hand. "Sorry, I sometimes forget how it's like when you just meet her. Trust me, she wouldn't have 'kicked you out', she just wanted to get her point across. I mean, don't get me wrong, she's a bitch, but she's one of the good guys."

"Besides," Rachel said with an evil smile "she can't really say no to Chloe when she gets her puppy eyes going."

"Yeah- I mean no! I mean, I don't get puppy eyes!"

"Yeah you do." The other two girls said in unison.

"Ugh. I should have known you two were going to team up against me the moment you met."

* * *

It was the middle of a night. Max Caulfield, half asleep, opened the bathroom door. Max Caulfield, wide awake, slammed it shut.

"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry" She mumbled quickly with her eyes shut and her back against the door.

"It's okay Max." Rachel's amused voice came from the other side of the door. "It's nothing you haven't seen before, right?"

"Hey, what the hell is-" Chloe began, coming out of her room, before seeing Max's embarrassed expression. "Oh no. Oh no she did _not_ just pull that on you. Ugh, I'm going to _murder_ her. Go to your room Max, I'll handle this."

"Chloe." Rachel began, opening the door as Max walked away. "Listen-"

"No, _you_ listen Rachel Amber." Chloe said, shutting the door and keeping her hands on the door knob. "I literally got on my knees to convince Max to come on this trip with us, and I promised that if anything made her feel uncomfortable I'd help her get back home. I really _really_ don't want that to happen, so I'd appreciate if you were to stop pulling shit like this, okay?"

"Okay, but Chloe-"

"Uh-uh, no buts! I wanna hear you say it properly."

"I promise not to pull anything like this on Max again."

"Fine. Now, if you don't want to spend the rest of the night in that bathroom, because I _will_ stand guard over here if I have to, you _will_ apologize and you _will_ explain what the hell was going through your head."

"That's what I've been trying to do! Listen, Chloe, I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to, I wasn't trying to make a move on her or anything like that. I was, uh, waiting for someone else. How was _I_ supposed to know-"

"Who?"

"Uh?"

"Who were you waiting for?"

Chloe heard Rachel sigh and lean against the door.

"Vic's coming back from her last minute meeting with the people from the stadium, you know, to fix all the numbers because of Max, and I figured she'd be stressed out and cranky when she got here, and she was going to make a pit stop for sleeping pills before going to bed."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"So, what happened to that guy from L.A?"

"Didn't work out. Again. Shocker."

"I'm sorry, Rach."

"Yeah. Me too. I really hope I didn't scare Max away, by the way. She seems nice."

"Yeah. I...I should probably go check on her. Um, sorry I flipped on you."

"'s okay. Being protective is one of your strong points Chlo, you shouldn't apologize for it."

"Yeah well, I should have realized my friend wasn't having a great time. Wanna talk about it later?"

"Sure. Later. Now, you need to go see Max...and I need to figure out if I'm gonna stay here naked or not."

* * *

Chloe knocked on the door, which was almost instantly opened by Max.

"Uh, hi." Max said.

"Hi. Sorry about all of this. Rachel didn't mean-"

"I know." Max said, before realizing it might not have been the wisest thing to do.

"You were eavesdropping?" Chloe asked. She didn't seem angry, but her semblance was unusually serious.

"Sorry." Max said with a small sigh as she sat on the bed. "But it's not like I was trying, you two were literally shouting across a closed door."

"Right. Well, yeah, there's that." Chloe said with a small smile, sitting next to her. Max felt herself relax at both the emotional and physical warmth.

"I'm not going to ask you to take me back home, you know?" She said, not meeting Chloe's eyes.

"Oh god, right, you heard that too. Listen, I didn't mean- ugh, I suck at this. What I mean to say is, I don't want to feel like I'm guilt tripping you into staying here. If you don't want to, then it's totally okay for you to-"

"Chloe." Max said, trying to sound as reassuring as possible as she placed a hand on the other girl's hand "It's okay. I want to. Okay?"

"O-okay." Chloe mumbled.

"So." Max said, failing to sound casual in a spectacular way. "Victoria and Rachel are...a thing?"

"No. I mean, not exactly. It's complicated. They are complicated. But it's definitely not, um, a thing. It's just…" Chloe trailed off. Max couldn't help but giggle for an instant.

"You were going to say complicated again, weren't you?"

Chloe sighed.

"Yeah. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love them both to death, but they got issues, you know? Not that I don't have my own, mind you. Anyway, yeah, Vic's as gay as they come. Chloe Price levels of gay. But she's got a type, and Rachel is _not_ it. Thing is, because we're always on the move, and because her type is so...specific, she doesn't really, uh, get out much, if you catch my drift. Rachel, on the other hand, has no idea what she wants. And that usually ends up with someone heartbroken, and it's her half the times. So yeah, add to that our weird lifestyle, the fact that we're all cooped like this together all the time and we're the only familiar faces around...shit happens. Really, it's not a _bad_ thing that it happens, at least they are helping each other deal. It keeps us sane, really. It just kinda sucks because if it's happening it's because neither of them is exactly at their best moment, you know? And they both know it. That does not exactly for a healthy relationship make. Which is why they are _not_ a thing. They just...do thing things from time to time."

Max nodded, unsure of what to say. It was all rather new but it seemed to her that Chloe, while definitely providing a textbook example of awkward rambling, was actually making some really good points. Not that it had been necessary, Max had been telling the truth when she had said she still wanted to stay, but knowing that Rachel wasn't some cartoonishly sex-obsessed rockstar and that she wasn't going to have to worry about finding her naked every time she entered a room was certainly reassuring. Not that there was anything wrong with naked Rachel, objectively speaking, but that perhaps was the main reason why she was relieved.

"What I'm trying to say" Chloe went on" is that I know this life isn't exactly normal, and we've joked about being too much for you and stuff, but I really don't want you to feel like that. What just happened wasn't crazy rockstar lifestyle gone, um, crazier, it was just-"

"People being people. I get it. And I _said_ I wasn't leaving, so you can stop panicking now."

"I'm not panicking." Chloe mumbled, but Max could feel the girl's hand tightly gripping the sheets under her own hand.

"Yeah you are. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's adorable, but unjustified. You've got nothing to worry about."

"You sure?"

"Positive. I'm not going anywhere. Except maybe the bathroom."

"Right. Of course. So, I should probably-"

"Yeah."

"Okay then. Good talk, good talk. I, uh, would use the other bathroom if I were you though, I think Rach is still in there."

Chloe stood up to walk away, and felt a slight tugging in her fingers as Max's hand lingered on hers. As she turned around, she felt Max's fingers twist and tighten around her hand, and a second later she felt the same soft skin around her other hand.

A second that felt like an eternity passed in silence. Chloe examined Max's clear blue eyes in search for a hint of what was about to happen, but she found the other girl's expression unreadable.

"M-max?" She stuttered finally, defeated. ' _Chloe Price, you_ do not _stutter, you fix this right now!'_ a tiny voice said in the back of her head. "W-what is it?" ' _Goddamit!'_

Max took a deep breath, and tightened her grip on Chloe's hands. Then a small smile made its way to the freckled face.

"I am _not_ leaving you, Chloe Price. I'm exactly where I want to be. The sooner you get that through that thick skull of yours, the sooner we can go back to having fun."

"Like the old days?" Chloe asked, returning the smile.

"But not as PG. Or so I've been promised."

"G-great." Chloe stuttered, fighting down a blush through sheer force of will as Max's words evoked a strange thought in her mind. "Awesome. I'll, uh, leave you to it, then, okay? See you tomorrow?"

"Goodnight, Chloe." Max said, and as her fingers pulled away.

"Goodnight, Max" Chloe said as she walked out of the room. Once outside, she closed the door and leaned against it. It took her brain all but a second to revisit the thought that had made her blush.

 _Rule 16 is going to be a problem_.

"Fuck." She muttered under her breath to the empty hallway.


End file.
